Chandler
is poised to spend millions on "Innovations," a bioscience and
technology incubator project that officials say could turn the region
into a magnet for inventors, scientists and startup entrepreneurs.
The plan, which would offer small, reduced-rate lab spaces with the
latest equipment, won unanimous backing on Friday from the city's
Economic Development Advisory Board. Members were told that the city
would lease part of a vacant Intel building southwest of McClintock Drive and Chandler Boulevard, start renovations within weeks and open the site by May 1.
The City Council was expected to give final approval Thursday and
Mayor Boyd Dunn
said he anticipated overwhelming support. The money has been set aside for economic development, he said.
"Why would a city do this? Because we're the only ones who can," said economic-development director
Christine Mackay. There will be no direct profit for Chandler, although the city expects to break even on leasing costs and utilities, she said.
Remodeling and equipment will cost about $5.7 million, and the city
would have to pay an additional $7 million to $8 million in the next 10
years to lease 37,000 square feet of the 120,000-square-foot building
from an investor who bought it for $7.1 million last year, Mackay said.
Intel built the structure in 1979. It has been vacant for five years.
"This is kind of an adventure, but it is important in terms of our
future," Dunn told the board. "Incubator space like this is missing in
the Valley, and we need it to bring in small companies and help them get their feet on the ground so they can grow and stay in the city."
One of the city's prospective tenants is Lubna Ahmad, founder of
Invoy Technologies and inventor of a medical breath-testing device. A
longtime Chandler resident who recently completed her doctorate at
Arizona State University, Ahmad told the board that one of her friends
and fellow entrepreneurs left the state because he couldn't find
incubator space here.
Mackay said the anticipated $18-per-square-foot monthly rent will be
about one-fourth the market rate for secure, equipped wet labs. The
city expects to offer turnkey operations for up to 30 tenants complete
with carded security systems, expensive refrigerators, autoclaves and
air-filtering devices. Heavy-duty gas and electric lines exclusive to
industrial and laboratory work are already at the site.
Chandler will work with Jeff Morhet and his non-profit ThirdBio to
recruit, screen and mentor the startups, Mackay said. Morhet, a Gilbert
resident who is also CEO for a Scottsdale biotechnology company, said
he had wanted to locate his company in Chandler, but there was no
suitable space.
Mackay has been promoting the creation of wet-lab space for more
than two years as a key to the city's employment future. She said
Chandler has lost several bioscience companies because it lacked those
facilities. The latest plans are already getting statewide attention.
"This is an exciting development that addresses head-on one of the most challenging gaps
identified in Arizona's Bioscience Roadmap," said Saundra Johnson,
executive vice president of the Flinn Foundation. "For young bioscience
firms to grow and thrive, they must have low-cost, fully equipped lab
space to develop their technology and reach viability. The incubator is
an important addition that will boost Arizona's capacity to attract and
retain innovative bioscience firms."
Barry Broome, CEO of the Greater Phoenix
Economic Council, said, "I think this will be an explosive success story for Chandler."
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